Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy are big news in Australia. 

The pair were both crucial to the Matildas’ run to the semi-final of last year’s World Cup in their homeland and have since seen their status in Australia skyrocket. 

Now, Fowler and Kennedy’s daily activities can be national news – just as Fowler lifting a baby turtle off a path and placing it to safety proved to be on the first morning of our recent pre-season tour down under. 

As attention for City and clubs across Europe turns to the upcoming campaign, Australia waits excitedly for news of when the Matildas will return to action on home soil. 

City were in the country to play in the Perth International Cup, with Gareth Taylor’s team basing ourselves in the Western Australian city – often described as the most isolated city in the world. 

So much so, to reach the nearest major settlement you’d have to fly for several hours to Indonesia and even then, they don’t speak the same language. 

That gives you a scale of how far Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are from Perth. 

Despite that isolation from much of the rest of the world, major sport has a home and adoring fanbase in Perth. 

The city is host to two Aussie Rules teams, a major Big Bash cricket side in Perth Scorchers, Western Force rugby union outfit and Perth Glory, who represent them in the A League.  

All of those sides draw very healthy crowds, with state-of-the-art stadia like Optus Stadium and renovations happening at both the WACA and HBF Park, where City’s two matches in Perth were played. 

Being in Perth also didn’t see City, Fowler and Kennedy hidden from curious eyes in the major cities of Melbourne and Sydney on the east coast. 

During our stay, fans from all over the vast country had travelled to Perth to get a glimpse of their idols. 

Both players attended one fan event in the city centre organised by the tournament’s promoters and were greeted by a long, snaking queue of fans waiting autographs and selfies. 

While all four teams at the Perth International Cup, – Paris Saint-Germain, West Ham United and Leicester City – were in attendance, almost everyone there was in sky blue. 

At that event, as well as an open training session for local girls teams and at both matches, the pair signed as much memorabilia as they possibly could, as well as swapping friendship bracelets they’d made earlier on the trip. 

At a lunch celebrating women in football the day before the semi-final win over Leicester City, Fowler’s arrival also sparked excitement way beyond any other player from all four clubs. 

Then, at our games at HBF Park, the pair stayed pitchside for almost an hour beyond full time to sign autographs, take selfies and swap friendship bracelets. 

When you think of Australian men’s sport, you may initially consider the all-conquering national cricket and rugby sides of the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the incredibly popular AFL. 

However, in women’s sport, football has eclipsed the traditional sports of Australian heritage, as well as the Olympics sports they have famously excelled in for generations. 

That’s taken a lot of work from volunteers over a long period of time. 

Vanessa O’Brien is from Middleton in Greater Manchester but chose to move to Perth in 2004. 

In Manchester, she remembers playing football throughout her childhood but having no team to join until she signed for Ashton United at 20.

Since ending her own playing career, she’s taken on a voluntary coaching and developmental role with local club Kingsley Westside, who were invited along to the open training session.

When she arrived at the club four seasons ago, there was no girl’s setup.

Now she is one half of the duo that has not only got girls and women’s teams off the ground, but seen them thrive with 11 teams across all age groups including a senior side and 170 players in total. 

While O’Brien is keen to keep growing the game, she acknowledges it’s currently restricted by facilities available. 

That means it’s currently impossible for clubs like Kingsley Westside to meet the demand. 

“We’ve got U8s through to senior women’s teams and next year we’re hoping to drop it down to U4s so girls can start playing as early as they want to,” said O’Brien during a conversation at our open training in Perth. 

“A lot of girls will play multiple sports of course, but we’re seeing if they have to pick that they are increasingly choosing football over cricket or rugby for sure. That’s what the Matildas have done. 

“It’s not just youngsters either, we’re setting up women’s walking football for the seniors. 

“It's been crazy since the World Cup. Everybody wants to play football but it’s about facilities and space. We can’t take everybody on.  

“I hate turning anybody away but that’s where we’re at in terms of football at the moment, thanks to the Matildas at the World Cup last year.

The ultimate ambition is not just to create players who star for the Matildas, but want to grow the game and give back like O’Brien has done. 

MY GIRLS CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MARY AND ALANNA ARE ACTUALLY HERE AND THAT THEY GET TO WATCH THEM TRAIN. IT'S AMAZING.

“They love all of the Matildas so much, and it’s amazing to see these women getting the recognition for their talent too. 

“Alanna especially will have seen such a huge change in her career and she’s now one of the most famous sportspeople in the country. 

“We want to create more players like that of course, and it can all happen so quick for players in women’s football.  

“For me at our level, it’s about creating players with a lasting love for the game so that no matter the standard they play they stay in it for a long time.” 

Optus Sport journalist Isobel Cootes, who has covered the game in Australia for the last two years, agrees with O’Brien when it comes to football’s infrastructure issues supporting the incredible demand since the 2023 World Cup. 

“For girls, it’s been between football and netball for a long time, but over the last five years with the investment into football it has skewed towards football’s favour.  

“It’s got to the point now where clubs around the country are struggling to accommodate all these players and are even having to turn girls away because the facilities just can’t keep up with the demand.  

“There was a 20% increase in New South Wales after the World Cup for example, so it’s been huge. The government are trying do some grants to get more facilities built specifically for women and girls but it’s something that takes time and there’s just not currently the space there.  

“There’s a delayed response there and it will take a little while, but hopefully we don’t lose another Mary Fowler or Alanna Kennedy along the way. 

The rise of Fowler and Kennedy from relatively obscure to front and back page news is stark for someone like Cootes, who became a fan of the game off the back of the release of 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham. 

Watching the tour closely, Cootes saw first hand just how much Fowler and Kennedy’s stardom has grown beyond recognition. 

“Pre-World Cup they could walk around and no one would really bother them unless they were a devoted women’s football fan,” said Cootes 

“Since the World Cup, it’s really ramped up with paparazzi following Mary Fowler around when she’s out on the streets and tracking her personal life too.  

IT'S BLOWN UP AND THE RECEPTION HAS BEEN GREAT.

“I think for someone like Alanna Kennedy, it’s been a bit of a shell shock because they’ve gone so long without being noticed on the streets and in the last year or two, there have been a lot of demand for her time.  

“That’s chalk and cheese.” 

Cootes believes one element of Fowler and Kennedy’s fame is their starring role in one of Europe’s leading divisions – the Barclays Women’s Super League. 

She says that young Australians dream of replicating their journey from A League star to a major European club. 

“The goal has always been Europe or America for these players.  

“Everyone from Australia wants to go to Europe and that’s where the professionalisation is furthest along at the moment.  

“That’s where our national team wants to be, so the coaches are also pushing players to go and test themselves in Europe so they’re getting as much exposure to high quality football as much as possible. 

“The financial restraints in Australia are going to keep it where it is for a while, but the investment is there and over time, there may be a time to look at keeping our best talents in the A League.” 

Three youngsters looking to follow in Fowler and Kennedy’s footsteps are Perth Glory players Mischa Anderson, Georgia Cassidy and Grace Johnston. 

The teenagers, all crucial to the first team setup at Glory, came to see one City session and meet Fowler and fellow hero Vivianne Miedema. 

Johnston, 19, remembers having to learn the game by playing boys’ football just a few years ago. 

“Growing up, we had to play for boys’ teams because there wasn’t really a girls’ team to join that was competitive enough to grow as a footballer,” she began. 

“By the time you get to 15 or 16, there’s a bit of a difference in terms of strength so then we’d have to go into the girls’ programmes.  

“They are getting better all the time gradually but there’s so much room for improvement.  

“Seeing the effect from the World Cup in our first A League season was great - we were getting record crowds – and we just want to continue that momentum as we go through our careers. 

Cassidy now sees the growth in participation and fascination with Matildas filtering through to interest in the domestic top tier. 

FOOTBALL IS GETTING NATIONAL RECOGNITION AND GAMES ARE GETTING TALKED ABOUT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

“For the boys, it’s still very much Aussie rules, cricket and rugby that everyone focuses on, but soccer has become our most popular sport.  

“We’re filling out some stands now, which by Matildas standards isn’t huge, but is a big step from where we were.” 

Johnston also agrees with Cootes that Europe holds an allure for players and that Fowler and Kennedy have created a pathway for more young talent to follow. 

“Most people in Australia want to be where they are, competing in leagues like the WSL and the Champions League,” she stated. 

“They want to be in the national team and you get to that level by playing against the best as often as possible.  

“It’s a big inspiration for us, seeing them doing it after growing up in Australia, and playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.” 

It’s not just young footballers who are seeing the sport growing year on year. 

Traditional sports in which Australia excel, such as cricket and their own invention Aussie Rules, are having to share the nation’s most promising young athletes with football, as girls spot an opportunity to build a fulfilling career in the game. 

Beth Mooney is an international cricketer for Australia, the dominant nation in the women’s game, and plays for Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash League. 

She’s proud of the work the Matildas are doing to represent her nation in the world’s most global game. 

“I was at the semi-final in the World Cup last year,” she began. 

“They’ve been a great team for a number of years and they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve for changing the landscape of football in our country.  

THEY'RE OUTSTANDING CITIZENS AND PLAY THE GAME BEAUTIFULLY, SO THEY'VE REALLY PUT US ON THE MAP

“Football is global sport and we’ve been a bit behind, but they’re doing really well and hopefully we’re just seeing the beginning of what they can achieve.” 

Rather than feeling threatened by football’s emergence as a rival sport, Mooney is instead excited that women and girls in Australia have more inspiring figures to follow. 

“From a fan’s perspective watching other women’s sports, we’re trying to raise the bar a little bit in terms of what’s possible,” she said. 

“Whether it’s cricket, football, AFLW, NRLW.  

“We haven’t quite put a ceiling on what can be achieved in women’s sport in Australia and as a fan of sport it’s been amazing to see the strides we’ve made in the last few years and the support we’ve got from fans, boards and organisations. 

“Australia is making sure the opportunities are there from a young age to get access to quality coaching, facilities, strength and conditioning.  

“When I was growing up, I had to play boy’s cricket. Now there is just so much opportunity to improve your game from a really young age and make strides into senior teams.  

“It’s exciting that we’re at the forefront of that. A lot of us are competitive too, I think that’s just part of the genetic makeup of an Australian.” 

Aisling McCarthy is an Aussie Rules player with the Fremantle Dockers is from Ireland and moved over to Australia after excelling in Gaelic football. 

She agrees with Mooney’s assessment on the positive impact of football’s growth. 

“Women’s sport in general has been growing at an extortionate rate over the last few years,” she said.  

“In the last couple of years, the Matildas have come to the forefront and they’re really recognisable to the public here.  

“Having the soccer World Cup here really promoted that game and women’s sport in general and I think the Matildas are doing a good job of improving the profile of women’s football in general. 

“In the public, soccer has become huge. The promotion around the World Cup was really big and people saw it and how good it can be.  

“That just proves that when people see it, they will come along to the game and get into it. The Australian girls are huge names and famous in their own right, they’ve become household names here in Australia.” 

Two weeks in Australia has not only given City a glimpse of the club’s growing stature down under but the power of women’s football in Australia. 

As Gareth Taylor’s team head into another season hunting for silverware, we can be confident that many fans in one of the world’s most sports obsessed countries will be cheering us on. 

Written by Jack Wilson-Mumford